Myths vs facts on cold starting, running and looking after your forged engine

[TBOWGN]

So I'm in the process of building my first fully forged engine and want to see what everyone thoughts are on looking after your costly high horse power hearts.
I've heard from different people that it's okay to stomp it straight away, but from others to always let it warm up before driving anywhere. I'm opting for the latter, but we'll see you what you guys say....

Also, any other tips to keep it from popping down the track?

Cheers, Lars

 

[VIN18M]

I warm mine up for about a minute at idle, then just drive it easy till it reaches temp. I'm running molly rings so the idea is to warm them up quickly so they seal. Letting it warm up at idle will generally mean it'll take longer and blow past the rings till they heat up and seal.

 

[BMGTZ]

warm up for a few minutes and aways idle down. I run molly rings at recommended end gap and have never had blow by issues on the engines Ive built....

 

[croket]

I warm mine up for about 5 mins but dont hit boost until i see the oil has warmed up. 40+k on acl race bearing , eagle rods and wiseco pistons. Who says you cant daily a forged engine.... Ive never had any oil in my catch can and fuel smell in oil after 5000 kms is minimal

 

[TBOWGN]

Does anyone on here use theirs as a daily, just jumps in it and drives off before warming up?

 

[VIN18M]

I don't get blowby, bit of moisture in the can, what I meant was the rings don't really fully seal till the engine is warm.

 

[croket]

Ive had to a couple of times when late for work , i cringed the whole time until temp came up. That said it hasnt caused any problems

 

[khubner1]

i do but i'm not running molly rings or any of that jazz that being said i don't stomp it. engine barely sees 3k before being up to temp. my reasoning is oil pressure is good and sitting at idle you don't get alot of oil pressure.

 

[JayRome]

Used mine as a daily for 9 years, never had an issue, just drive smooth when cold... when engine up to temp, drive harder...

I used to even wait till my engine oil came up to temp before i gave the turbo a beating...

 

[TBOWGN]

9 years is definately impressive. How many k's? And what sort of HP are you running as a daily?

 

[EVO-00X]

It's simple.
Definitely warm the engine up before stomping on it.
If you have to drive the car before it reaches normal operating temps then baby it until it does, especially if you run loose piston to bore clearance and hear piston slap for a while after startup.
I'm not going to talk about oil viscosity at different temperatures, how oil protects your moving parts, piston expansion or anything like that.
If you stomp on a cold engine you're an idiot and make baby Jesus cry.

 

[TBOWGN]

Haha, fair enough

 

[OLDIE]

I warm mine up for about 5 mins but dont hit boost until i see the oil has warmed up. 40+k on acl race bearing , eagle rods and wiseco pistons. Who says you cant daily a forged engine.... Ive never had any oil in my catch can and fuel smell in oil after 5000 kms is minimal

I just drive my forged stroker gently until the temp gauge is over 1/2 way to normal operating temps. I have the same internals as Croket and 387 HP ATW

 

[Lister]

When I daily drove mine, it was a case of drive it easy to full temp. This not only gives the engine a chance to warm up before copping a pounding, but also the drive train.

 

[VIN18M]

When I daily drove mine, it was a case of drive it easy to full temp. This not only gives the engine a chance to warm up before copping a pounding, but also the drive train.

Agree with this, my front LSD is an absolute bitch till the oil warms up. Foot lightly on the accelerator it pulls right, back off and it snaps back to the left.

 

[OLDIE]

Agree with this, my front LSD is an absolute bitch till the oil warms up. Foot lightly on the accelerator it pulls right, back off and it snaps back to the left.

LOL typical WWD bum drager behavior.

 

[SKMsport]

You really do want to warm it up, like everyone has said, it's the best thing to do for the engine.

The best thing you can have is an oil temp gauge, Always have your engine oil temp to around 70 deg before driving.
Ideal temps are around 95-110 deg.

You can run a Laminovia oil cooler set up on your car which uses the cars cooling system to cool the oil, but when you initially start up the coolant system actually heats the oil quicker, which is awesome for start up and keeps the oil temp relative to the actual engine temperature.

 

[4piknup]

I just looked at a broken harley. Its broken because the owner would do burnouts with it cold, at the rev limiter...
All (2) bores are scored and pistons too, and the cams have galled on their bearings. Engine is really a bin job.

Show some mechanical appreciation, beat on your car only when its warmed up

 

[evo-gsr]

This guy "beats" in his car when its cold.

Watch "Hall Pass - Jack off scene"

http://youtu.be/jBLhHNXRl9E

 

[Dave_GSR1.8]

Getting back on topic...

I was always told that after a cold start give it a few secs for oil presure to come up and then drive it gently till warmed up (in other words don't sit there idling it for an extended period). Doing it this way gets it to operating temp as quickly and safely as possible. I think it works as we have reached 450,000 kms from new on the family boredom wagon.